1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mounting apparatus and more particularly to a mounting apparatus which is uniquely well suited to the securing of a plurality of golf club tubes or the like in a predetermined array within a golf bag of virtually any type so as to retain the golf club tubes in substantially fixed relation in the array without the problems associated with conventional devices adapted for the same broad purpose.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There is a host of situations in which a plurality of individual work objects are to be retained in a predefined array within a predefined area. One such environment has been the subject of considerable prior art effort. The game of golf is renown in the affinity of people who play golf for various devices which may assist in improving performance or may serve to improve the comfort or ease with which the game is played. In this respect, for example, and constituting an environment within which the mounting apparatus of the present invention has application, it is widely accepted to employ golf club tubes within golf bags which are individually adapted to receive a golf club. Such golf club tubes serve to organize the interior of the golf bag, to protect the shaft and grip of each club from damage and to prevent the golf clubs from becoming entangled with each other or with other objects during use.
A variety of prior art devices have been developed for mounting such golf club tubes within golf bags, but such prior art devices have, in many respects, been less than satisfactory. The Pell U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,774 discusses a number of these prior art devices. The Pell patent is itself directed to a golf club separator insert which is characterized by a polyethylene foam disc having a plurality of holes individually adapted to receive the golf club tubes and itself adapted to be compressibly mounted in the upper portion of a golf bag in which it is mounted. The device of the Pell patent is notable in its usage of perforated lines spaced successively inwardly from the periphery of the disc operable to permit portions of the periphery of the disc to be broken away for mounting in golf bags of smaller internal diameters than the normal diameter of the disc. While the device of the Pell patent is superior to other prior art devices in certain respects, such prior art devices in general are plagued by operational deficiencies which detract from their utility.
Conventional devices are particularly susceptible to having the golf club tubes individually released therefrom, particularly where, over time, a degree of play develops between the device and the golf club tubes. In other instances, the device itself is easily loosened from the interior of the bag causing the device, the golf club tubes and the golf clubs disposed therewithin to be released from the bag. Frequently during game play, if the golf club bag is dropped or otherwise forcibly impacted against another object, the bag deforms sufficiently to cause the device itself to be deformed and thereby to be released from the golf bag. Other problems reside in the lack of durability inherent in the device making it susceptible to failure as the result of the abusive usage sometimes inherent in the playing of the game.
Therefore, it has long been known that it would be desirable to have a mounting apparatus particularly well suited to the mounting of golf club tubes within a golf bag, which can be constructed at the time of manufacture as an integral part of the golf bag or which can be retrofitted into existing golf bags, which operates positively to capture the golf club tubes relative to the apparatus during the entire period of use of the device, which is adaptable to fit golf bags of virtually any internal diameter, and which is very lightweight but which is securely retained in the golf bag once installed through a long operational life and not withstanding the abusive treatment commonly associated with the playing of the game of golf.